2018 Cornas La Louvee
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Tasting notes
The 2018 Cornas La Louvée knocks on the door of its broad drinking window. Ripe black fruit, forest floor, licorice, graphite and dried flower tones come alive. Tobacco adds more aromatic complexity. Enveloping the full-bodied palate with rounded tannins and rich flavor concentration, the 2018 comes without any rough edges, walking off the stage with persistence on the complex finale.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider
Josh Raynolds
More reviews and scores
Opaque violet color. Expressive black and blue fruit, violet and licorice aromas show fine clarity and pick up hints of woodsmoke and cracked pepper as the wine opens up. Juicy and appealingly sweet, offering pliant boysenberry, cherry and spicecake flavors with a touch of smoky bacon. The floral note reappears on the gently tannic finish, which hangs on with strong, spicy persistence. 20% new oak.
Summer-like scents of crushed stone, dusty roads, dried herbs and wild blackberries appear on the nose of the 2018 Cornas la Louvee. Looking much better from bottle than a pre-bottling sample I tasted in Cornas, it avoids any sense of jammy excess. Medium to full-bodied, it's supple and ripe, smooth and easy to drink, with a long, silky finish that adds savory hints of beef and anise.